Biden holds virtual campaign rally in Tampa

  
Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing

May 8, 2020: Joe Biden held a virtual campaign rally in Tampa, Florida. Donald Trump’s campaign manager tweeted ads that will be part of a $10 million campaign against Biden. 

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Ballotpedia is monitoring changes made to election dates and procedures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here are the presidential primary updates you need to know:

  • Delaware: Gov. John Carney (D) again postponed Delaware's presidential primary, to July 7. The primary was originally scheduled to take place on April 28 before being postponed to June 2. Carney also announced that the state would mail absentee ballot applications automatically to all eligible voters in the primary. 


Each Friday, we highlight a presidential candidate's key campaign staffer.


Rufus Gifford is a Democratic staffer with experience in political advising and finance. Gifford received a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1996.

Previous campaign work:

  • 2018 candidate for Massachussett’s 3rd Congressional District

  • 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign, finance director

Other experience:

  • 2019-2020: UTEC, advisory board member

  • 2019-2020: Angeleno Group, senior advisor

  • 2019-2020: Run for Something, board of directors member

  • 2019-2020: Priorities USA, board of directors member

  • 2019-2020: Out Leadership, senior advisor

  • 2017-2020: GAME, advisory board member

  • 2013-2017: U.S. Embassy to Denmark, ambassador

  • 2009-2011: Democratic National Committee, finance director

  • 2008-2009: Presidential Inaugural Committee, California finance director

Notable Quote of the Day

“A pair of major developments give us a hint about how future trends will develop on the partisan battleground.

First: Heading into the 2020 election, President Trump is on track to far surpass President Barack Obama’s record in collecting small donor contributions — those under $200 — lending weight to his claim of populist legitimacy.

Second: Democratic candidates and their party committees are making inroads in gathering contributions from the wealthiest of the wealthy, the Forbes 400, a once solid Republican constituency. Democrats are also pulling ahead in contributions from highly educated professionals — doctors, lawyers, tech executives, software engineers, architects, scientists, teachers and so on. ...

Trump’s success in raising small dollar contributions is not necessarily a harbinger of his prospects in November 2020. It does, however, raise a question about the contemporary role of the two major political parties.

Traditionally, one of the core strengths of the Democratic Party has been that voters trust it more than the Republican Party to protect and advance the interests of the middle class. In recent years, however, that advantage has been eroding.”

- Thomas B. Edsall, The New York Times

Election Updates

  • Joe Biden held a virtual campaign rally in Tampa, Florida. He also participated in a roundtable with African American leaders in Jacksonville and visited a food bank in Orlando, all from his home in Delaware.

  • Donald Trump has approved a $10 million ad campaign attacking Biden. Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, tweeted, “For nearly three years we have been building a juggernaut campaign (Death Star). It is firing on all cylinders.  Data, Digital, TV, Political, Surrogates, Coalitions, etc. In a few days we start pressing FIRE for the first time.”

Flashback: May 8, 2016

2008 Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. Sen. John McCain said on CNN's “State of the Union” that he would support Trump in the presidential election. He commented, “You have to draw the conclusion that there is some distance, if not a disconnect, between party leaders and members of Congress and the many voters who have selected Donald Trump to be the nominee of the party. … You have to listen to people that have chosen the nominee of our Republican Party.”

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